UTEP crushes Southern Miss by 30 Saturday night

The UTEP men’s basketball team put together perhaps its most complete performance of the conference season, dismantling Southern Miss by a final of 80-50 at the Don Haskins Center Saturday night.

The Miners hit 12 threes on the night, including six courtesy of Dominic Artis, who posted 20 points and 10 assists.

UTEP jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead and never looked back in the second half, outscoring Southern Miss by 20 in the final 20 minutes of play.

Guard Omega Harris added 17 points and five assists of his own to complement the stellar play of Artis.

UTEP only committed six turnovers in the ballgame while recording 23 assists.

The Miners also dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Golden Eagles 37-22, as UTEP got redemption for an eight-point loss at Southern Miss back on January 7. That game marked the 12th straight loss for these Miners, who have since won seven of their last nine.

Coach Tim Floyd was happy with the way his team bounced back after suffering a tough loss Thursday at home against Louisiana Tech.

“We played like the loss on Thursday bothered us,” said Floyd. “And to think, you know, we make a couple free throws Thursday, we’d be in second place in our league right now, which is really a real credit to these kids for not quitting.”

Floyd was also happy with the way his guards, Artis and Harris controlled the pace of the game. He says they’ve been playing much better as of late thanks to the emergence of other players such as Matt Willms and Paul Thomas.

Artis said he, too, was proud of the team’s response after the loss to Louisiana Tech.

“Really, second half last game, we kind of came out flat,” said Artis. “We felt like we had the game and just to see how we came out in this second half. I think they scored the first basket [tonight], but…we really just came out and gave it our all.”

The Miners will play their next four games on the road. UTEP begins its four game road stretch at North Texas on Thursday, Feb. 16.